Exciting Weekend

This has been a busy weekend. Most of the significant parts of it I caught with my almost worthless camera on my Treo. Friday night was our church 2nd Friday Fellowship. Young Adult 1 (twentysomethings) showed up at our house for Munjoni's Lasagna and a hot game of Bunco. It was great to get to know them better and to see Bunco bring out the best in those I thought were kind and quiet.

The next day I headed out to visit our Middle School group on retreat at Redeemed Ranch just south of Minden, LA. I missed the hayride, fishing, and horseback riding but did get to be a part of worship and the last session of Bible study. It was great to hear them learning about putting on the new self and no longer living for themselves--a hard task for any Middle Schooler, or adult for that matter. I took the one below in the front yard today, as the kids were selling bottlecaps and leftover Halloween candy to passers-by. I didn't want them to do it, as I knew it would cut into a much-needed nap. But, I remembered how fun it was to have a kool-aid stand when I was there age, so I gave in and paused to take joy in this time of their lives, knowing that one day I'll wish for more bottlecap sales tables. We just drove in from Allendale, where our church dedicated three homes we helped build with the Fuller Center for Housing Building Blitz back in September. We had one house that was ours in conjunction with Mt. Canaan Baptist Church and it was special to be with new homeowner Erma Flournoy (See September podcast with her from this blog) and to lay hands on her house to dedicate it to God. She was so excited and it was exciting to see a dream in her life come true. It was also a thrill to consider what doing more of this community transformation can do in this neighborhood and throughout our city.